So many things in the 80’s were not just neat or cool they became icons –
MTV
Phil Collins
Miami Vice
Phil Collins on Miami Vice and the theme from Miami Vice on MTV
and pink flamingos
Even today pink flamingos in your yard (the plastic ones not the real ones) are still really cool.
Smith & Wesson Model 4566 – still an icon today
The 4566 was an instant hit when Smith brought it out in 1988. It was very popular with the Bowling Pin Crowd – The gun was so over built people were loading 45 ACP to 45 super pressures and spending their Saturday afternoons bowling. 230 grain hardball at 1200 fps will really clear pins off a table. The 4566 was a mid-size pistol – at 46 oz! Very mild recoil, very smooth to shoot even at high pressures. Wolff Springs still sells the recoil springs for the pistol. (over pressure shooting with the gun required a special recoil spring)
The 4566 was a double action/single action – the double action was as smooth as any of their revolvers and the single action breaks clean at 3-4 pounds.
Breakdown is straight forward, line up the notch,pull the pin,off comes the slide.
Disassembly of the slide components is very simple. Remember the guide rod is not captured and it will go further than you can ever imagine.
Smith & Wesson still sells the nice stainless steel mags; 8+1 in the pipe = 9 rounds total.
Does it shoot? HELL YES!
8 rounds – in 3 seconds -at 21 feet. Right side of the 8 ring that hole is 3 rounds. Not bad for an old fart – me and the gun.
If you can find one in good shape and your willing to pay the money you should buy it. The gun shoots great and is really an icon of the 80’s. This particular gun was purchased at 3G Pawn on South 132nd here in Omaha. Great place to shop, good assortment of firearms and wonderful people to deal with. Now I just need to buy that Model 59 that I’m looking at, but my wife says if I do I won’t see her for the next 2 weeks because that’s how long it will take for the swelling to go down.
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Of course it comes with all of the usual suspects.
Cleaning rod – patch rod – one mag is also included – comes with a nice case
Break-down is pretty straight forward – back on the slide a hair, pop the pin and the slide comes right off.
Just as simple as that.
And again a word to the wise, NOT a captured recoil spring, guide rods really have a habit of disappearing. It only takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to clean a gun but 2 hours of that is finding the guide rod. DAMN
Good view of the inside of the slide and the lugs on the barrel and the matching recesses on the slide. And a view of the firing pin block which allows you to then call it a CZ 75B copy. And it keeps all the lawyers happy.
Shown here with the hammer on half cock with the safety off. From page 11 of the owners manual (a DANGER Will Robinson moment) “WARNING ! Your pistol has a resting position or notch on the hammer. This notch is not to be used as a half cock position. This notch’s sole purpose is an additional notch on the hammer so as to allow the sear a chance to engage the hammer if the trigger id not pulled fully to the rear. In order to lower the hammer, first move the safety to the “off” or “fire” position. Grasp the hammer very firmly and put a finger between the hammer and the firing pin. Then pull the trigger and slowly let the hammer move forward past the resting position. RELEASE THE TRIGGER. Gently let the hammer rear of the slide.”
Folks, the pistol has a firing pin block, however, it does not have a decocker. Yes it’s perfectly safe to carry at half cock, great trigger pull from that position. However you really should not carry it that way as without a lot of practice you could really “screw up” lowering it to a half cock position. I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on television. My legal advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. NOTHING!!
Full cock safety on. If you don’t mind a manual safety on a carry pistol, this is the way to go, and it has a really nice single action trigger pull.
Comes with one magazine marked 15 rounds, however it will hold 16 rounds which gives you a total capacity of 16+1 or 17 rounds.
Here you can see how the slide sits inside the frame which gives it a lower bore axis. This really helps with recoil.
Empty weight comes in at 1 pound 11.7 ounces – just under 28 ounces.
These were all rapid fire. The three I have circled I knew they were gone when I let the shots off. The lower bore axis in conjunction with the polymer frame (helps soak up recoil) makes for one very soft and smooth shooting 9mm pistol. Very accurate at defensive handgun ranges. Looking forward to warm weather to get it outside and really stretch it out.
The Sar B6P is one great value. Generally available from internet retailers at under 300 dollars. It is well worth the money.
This particular firearm was purchased from DE Guns in Lincoln Nebraska – DEGuns.net – not over the internet but from the retail shop – great folks to deal with and hard to believe the amount of “stuff” that they have in their little shop. Give them a look – highly recommend them.
Have Fun ! – Run the Gun ! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap !!
This is an easy dinner that is a great riff of the classic lobster mac and cheese. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days, but doesn’t freeze well. Prep Time20 mins Cook Time30 mins Course: Main Course, Pasta Cuisine: American Keyword: comfort food, shrimp Servings: 6 people Calories: 1091kcal Author: Hank Shaw
Ingredients
1 pound elbows or other short pasta, cooked and drained
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small hot green chile (serrano), minced (optional)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups cream
2 cups shredded gruyere cheese, loosely packed
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, loosely packed
1/2 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
12 ounces shrimp, peeled
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
Heat the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and saute, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the chile and garlic and saute another minute. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Add the flour to the pan and mix it in well. Cook this, stirring often, for 5 minutes, until it browns a bit. Pour in the cream about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each time so that it’s fully incorporated.
Do the same with all the cheeses, adding about 1/2 cup at a time, and stirring it in before adding more. Add salt and black pepper to taste, then mix in the cooked pasta and shrimp.
Move all this to a casserole dish; I like to grease mine with butter, but this is not strictly necessary. Pat the mac and cheese into the casserole and sprinkle the breadcrumbs and parsley over it all. If you feel like adding some other seasonings, like Cajun or Cavender’s or somesuch, sprinkle maybe a teaspoon or two over everything now.
Bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top browns. Remove and let it sit 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
NOTE: If you are using large shrimp, cut them into small pieces.
Nutrition
Calories: 1091kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 67g | Saturated Fat: 40g | Cholesterol: 363mg | Sodium: 968mg | Potassium: 410mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 2427IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 916mg | Iron: 3mg As I cooked it – Substituted shredded Quesu Quesadilla cheese for the Gruyvere – I really like Queso for cooking – and I couldn’t find the other – LOL . . . Use raw shrimp !! – it will be cooked just right buy the time you are ready to plate it – precooked shrimp will totally over cook and have the texture of little chopped up pieces of “sole of tennis shoe” – and almost as much flavor – Don’t ask me how I know this – I have actually screwed up several recipes over the years doing just that – just pop the tails off the shrimp – chop it up and use it!! Used an oven safe skillet rather than a casserole dish – just makes sense to me – it is already warm from cooking “the stuff” – just slip it in the oven and it continues on its merry way to your plate . . . The website I got this off of looks like it has not been updated in about 7 years – you would be amazed how many “abandoned” web sites I stumble across . . .
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! and remember – Fish Heads Are Cheap!! – Damn – Now I’m wondering if maybe I should have substituted fish heads for the shrimp????
Smith made these until springtime of 2015 – considered by many to by a “poor man’s” Model 41. The Model 41 is a full up competition gun – pricey at $1599 – “semi” mass produced but hand fitted – essentially what would be considered a performance center gun and Smith holds to incredibly tight tolerances with the Model 41 – with the correct ammo ( Ely match grade or better @ $15.00 for 50 – Damn! )- if you’re not putting everything into one hole in the paper at 25 plus yards it is not the pistols fault!
Smith went in a little different direction with the model 22A-1. A really decent price point and very acceptable accuracy – not a true target or competition pistol – I will show you the mag release and mag well in a minute and you will understand why – but a really good plinker!! When they stopped production the MSRP was around $329 dollars and the used market has a bunch out there and they tend to run in the $200 to $300 range.
Simple to breakdown – lock the slide back – push the button in that’s in front of the trigger guard and the barrel comes right off.
Hammer fired – alloy frame – the steel barrel – chamber end in top pic – steel barrel in an alloy “housing” – complete with rail – ready for a red dot or scope if the target sights don’t float your boat.
Another look at the sights
A peek under the slide . . .
Let’s take a look at the mag well and the magazine . . .
No tapered magazine – no beveled mag well – changing magazines in a real hurry – gotta shave .048 seconds- hurry hurry / quick quick – is time consuming at best – but S&W did put a button on the side of the magazine to make it a lot easier to load those itty bitty 22 shells . . .
The other issue concerning “competition use ” is the location of the magazine release – if you really get a grip on it – you can inadvertently drop the magazine – oops!!
Shown here with a Ruger 22/45 to give you an idea of size
So Bruce, do you think I should pick one up if I ran across one in decent shape and reasonably priced?
Absolutely – they are just fun little guns to shoot – S&W made them in several different finishes ( 5?) and a 4 inch, 5.5 inch, and a 7.5 inch and by the ten of thousands – they are out there and not anything you would consider rare or collectable – but really neat- me personally I would start getting twitchy at anything over $150 or so – I am not a cheap bastard! – I am fiscally conservative! – so don’t even go there !!! – LOL
And the more things change – sometimes it seems the more they remain the same
This is kind of a neat one this time – it gives you quite a range of stuff – from marketing to to field to table!
First off – J.C. Higgins was an actual person – not just a created pesona or some dreg of humanity with a pretty face ( hoolywood – lower case and misspelling intentional – star ) for you folks in Rio Linda CA ) hawking a bunch of over priced crap.
I apologize in advance for some of the pics – long guns are more difficult to get good pics of –
and the rest of it –
The Model 60 came in 3 main variants – plain barrel – vent rib – vent rib with a “poly choke” – and each variant came in two basic versions – a plain or field grade – and a fancy or deluxe grade – as seen here.
High gloss finish – checkering – jeweled bolt and shell lifter – really nice stuff considering this was in 1952 or so and from Sears as a house brand made by High Standard . . .
some light surface rust – considering years ( decades even ! ) of being ignored in a corner of a closet it is in quite good shape . . .
And of course you could engrave your initials on the plate !!
It came to me with a failure to eject issue – basically it was a singe shot – took the gas piston system apart and cleaned all the bits of melted , fused plastic gunk out of it – and that really sucked – did that to it about 7 or 8 years ago so sorry no pics – but I believe you can use your imagination to “hear” the running commentary that went with that task – OMFG !!
This time around – a little cleaning and a look at the “gas cup” that the piston goes in to check for dust bunnies and such. . .
Front stock off – aluminum gas shield still in place . . .
Aluminum shield off . . .
How does it know if you are shooting light loads or magnums or field loads ???
That stack of springs regulates the amount of gas – pretty much any gas the gun does not need to cycle compresses the springs and the excess bleeds off into the forearm – thus the reason for the aluminum shield.
Fire control group – mounted in a machined aluminum housing . . .
If it needs to be cleaned I can’t recommend taking it all apart – just drop it in an ultrasonic cleaner – blow it dry and put drops of CLP on the pivot points with a precision oiler – a whole lot easier than taking it apart!!
Looking up from the bottom – bolt forward . . .
Bolt to the rear – or retracted . . .
So Bruce – How can you tell if the “gas system” is plugged and needs more cleaning or not by looking at it?? How the hell do you even see anything???
A bore scope of course – the next series of pics will show you screen captures of the ports that dump gas onto the piston!!
Cool ain’t it ??? If you run up on one – and you have the time and patience to fuss and fart around with it – they are really neat old guns – Worth anything on the used market ?? If you are selling ?? Sadly not much – way to many produced for it to be rare or collectible – but if you are buying ?? – It is definitely a buyers market – I would start with an offer of $75 to $100 – stop cold at $125 – if in decent shape and it fills in a spot for me – you see them in pawn shops in the $200 – $300 dollar range – realistically they are over priced at that amount – I really am not going to go into pawn shop pricing – remember the “secret” – buy low – sell high – merchandising – suffice to say every time I have been told that I am low balling someone – well Bruce you are trying to rip me off!! – they take their “stuff” to a pawn shop and come right back to me wanting to take my money now – Please?? LOL!!
I hope to take this particular gun pheasant hunting – but the time element this year does not look like that’s going to happen – before you know it we will be eating corn beef while trying to shoot the Easter bunny cause he won’t stop with all the noisy fire works . . .
To paraphrase a popular commercial – What’s in your closet??
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
The regional chain grocery store that we frequent has a decent “liquor department” and they have “tastings” – these cute young girls work for the different distributors and give you sips of various carbonated and non-carbonated adult beverages . . .
Makes grocery shopping fun !! I don’t remember HOW long ago I grabbed this – found it under the cupboard looking for something else and broke it out for after dinner on Thanksgiving. Really GOOD flavor – tends to burn a little on the way down – but damn nice flavor and taste !!
After a closer look at the label I can wrap my head around the burn – 61.7% by volume – that is 123.4 proof – OH MY GOODNESS – but it sure is good!! – LOL
Now kids I will admit that this adult shit ain’t ALL burritos and strippers BUT one of the neat things ( besides having your favorite burner on the stove ) is making your own sandwiches. . .
Crunchy peanut butter – honey – bacon – banana – and nutella on whole grain bread – God Bless America!!
Another really neat thing – Naughty?? / Nice?? If your concerned about Santa NOT hooking you up – go buy your own gifts – the only downside to that is you have to wrap them – LOL!!
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
I went to look for an adult sized Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas – ( yes – I know – be careful or I’ll shoot my eye out!! ) and this followed me home. One of several nice things about being an adult is having a favorite burner on the stove – another is buying your own Christmas gift. And you don’t have to wrap it up if you don’t want to be bothered with worrying about making it look good and you’re not too worried if it doesn’t – LOL
The furniture on this is real nice – the pictures don’t do it justice.
As soon as I saw the wood I told the guy “Here – take my money” a real good looker!!
Between schedules and weather will more than likely be spring before I get a chance to wring this out – 25 yards on an indoor range – Meh – 50 to 100 yards outside – Sweet!
Look out Bambi !!
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Sig had a neat idea with the P250 – a fire control group that was the “actual” serialized firearm – and then sell caliber “x-change ” kits – buy one firearm (functional) in your choice of caliber and the all you have to do is by a “kit” at a reduced price and you have another firearm – just swap the fire control group out and away you go. Full size – compact (which is what this is) – sub-compact / pick your caliber – 45 (which is what this is) – 40 S&W – 357SIG – 9mm – 380 – 22LR. You get a frame – slide – guide rod – recoil spring – mag – just put your fire control group in it and you are good to go. A great idea in theory. In theory. Several issues kinda stood in the way of the idea taking off.
Availability – Your kidding – right?? I saw a grand total of one kit in the wild – Virtually everybody that carried SIG had them listed – never in stock – but listed on their website – or in their catalog – the kits were never really “out” there to buy . . .
Price Point – In most listings the kit was just about right up there with the price of a complete firearm and the one that I saw in the wild was more than the price of buying the same size/caliber as a complete firearm . . .
DAO / self de-cocking / spurless hammer – for a lot of people an issue – unless you learned to shoot and shoot fast on a DA/SA revolver a Double Action Only trigger is a learning curve that most people just won’t practice enough ( damn Bruce – there’s that P word again!! ) with to become proficient in its use – remember the P250 came into the market in 2007 – long after striker fired handguns saturated the market. From my point of view the DAO trigger was like old home week – very close to K frame S&W and the bonus of 10 rounds total with 45 acp.
No doubt about it – with that profile it’s a SIG
Sig did a good job on texturing the grips except where your thumb rests – added grip tape to both sides – gives some texture to smooth slick plastic . . .
Sig had high hopes for the P250 line – had those come to fruition I believe volume would have been high enough that the price point at retail would have possibly dropped enough to become attractive to the public . . .
The P250 just never really went over – Wiki only lists two agencies as using them – The Hong Kong Police and The Cleveland County Police ( northwest U.K. ) – really neat pistols but they just didn’t click . . .
Which led to this – virtually the same firearm – but striker fired – For my having shot the P250 DAO and really liking the trigger – the striker fired P320 was a real MEH . . .
SIG P320 – Essentially a striker fired P250 – the biggest difference between hammer fired (P250) and striker fired (P320) ?? – NO second strike capability with the SIG P320 . . . SIG added a little “shelf” for your thumb on both sides . . . But – But it’s striker fired – must buy P320 — News Flash !! — The trigger on the P250 is a better trigger – If you practice and train on it the P250 has a very good trigger – if you want to take a skill set and just apply a hardware fix to it – rather than improve on the skill set – go with the P320 – just saying – and the P320 became quite the success for SIG . . .
Oh Well – on to the P250 –
Sitting on top of a SIG full sized 1911 – sitting by itself it looks to be pretty good sized – when paired with a full sized firearm you realize it is a “compact”
Bottoms up! – P250 on the left – Sig 1911 on the right . . .
Field strip is easy – lock the slide back – turn the take down lever – release the slide and off it comes . . .
And the recoil spring / guide rod assembly is not captive – ( only took 20 minutes to find the damn thing the one time it managed to escape my clutches ) so try not to launch it . . .
Now hear is where it gets interesting – pull the take down lever out of the frame
A wee bit of wiggling and finagling – don’t forget to hold you tongue just right . . .
Actually it is not that hard to get it out of the frame – the only down side – never being able to find the different kits to swap it into . . .
Enough Barbra Streisand Bruce – are you gonna take this thing to the range or just tease us ???
7 yards – slow – aimed – deliberate fire . . .
7 Yard – 5 round dumps – It’s all in how you train and practice – the more I focus on sights – the worse I shoot -LMAO!!
Slow deliberate fire at 10 yards – the one I circled is out of the top left string – don’t ask me – I don’t have a clue -LOL!!
And finally 5 yard slow fire . . .
Bottom Line – Worth buying?? If you can find one – frame size and caliber you want? Sure – why not! ( My God!! – you know I am only going to enable you not dissuade you !! ) Don’t go overboard on the price – try to get as close to the $325 – $350 dollar range as you can – unless you just gotta have one ( I am laughing as I type this ) – if I remember correctly this one was $399.00 on sale – NIB – I think . . .
Don’t forget – BLOAT – Buy Lots Of Ammo Today!!
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
Guns, Fun, Food and More 